Cross Dock Operations vs. Warehousing – What’s the Difference?

You may not know the difference between cross dock operations and warehousing, but it’s important to understand the logistics of your business.

Cross Dock Operations & Its Benefits: With cross docking, there is no need for a distributor to keep an inventory of products that can be shipped to customers. This process uses technology and business integration in just-in time shipping activities. Our previous article has more information on the concepts of cross docking.

Inbound operations usually receive shipments and store them in warehouses. Cross dock operations can start moving cargo from the warehouse to an outland location without any long-term storage options, instead of storing items until they are needed.

Cross Docking has the following benefits:

Cross dock operations have proven to be beneficial for many businesses, and other are opting for cross-docking operations due to its advantages.

Here are some of them:

Reduction in Cost –

Warehouse space is needed to store inventory. Every time you buy long-term products, you rent a certain amount of space from your logistics partner. There are situations where this may be necessary and should not be avoided even if there is the option to ship items once they have been ordered – cross dock expediting can help with quicker deliveries!

Have One Reliable Logistics Partner

With cross dock operations, businesses can reduce the need for multiple logistics partners and relationships with their customers. This enables them to save on higher costs incurred from courier or parcel delivery partners. When you partner with one company that provides all your needs, in addition to other benefits like services and back-and-forth free time, you will get a big advantage at no additional cost.

Product Damage Gets Reduced –

If you’re worried about the risk of damage to your products when they are cross-docked, don’t be. Although it may seem like there is a higher chance of getting damaged goods due to increased speed and less time for handling, that’s not actually true! The risk of having product damages increases with more people or middlemen involved in the process as opposed to cross-docking which reduces touchpoints for your products. With this type of operation, items are quickly transferred from incoming trucks straight onto outbound trucks with less processes and quicker turnaround times than other methods would offer.

Time is Saved

Though it may seem as if cross-docking operations are risky for your products, this is not so. The risk of damage increases when more people or middlemen are involved in the process, but there’s less chance of that happening with cross-docking because it reduces the number of touchpoints. In other words, an item goes directly from being unloaded from an inbound truck to load onto a different outbound truck – and involves only a few processes which also means quicker turnaround time!

Quick Shipping Timeline

One of the biggest advantages of cross-dock operations is that it can reduce the time it takes to ship goods. When a product is ordered, you prepare and send them directly to awaiting warehouse facilities. Once they reach their designated warehouse, they are quickly transferred from inbound trucks on outbound trucks and shipped off to customers.

ProConnect Integrated Logistics for Cross Dock Operations

If you think cross docking could be helpful and prove to be efficient for your shipping operations, talk to us. We help companies across several industries with their logistics needs, including cross-docking. We possess the experience and the expertise required that can help you reduce costs, achieve faster turnaround time, implement more efficiency, and offer strong partnership.

Still have questions? Looking for a quote? Contact us today.

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